Many modern applications use sensor devices to collect data or relay information relating to the various applications. Sensor devices, for example, may relay information regarding a potential impact condition associated with a portion of an automobile, or the like. For example, a sensor may receive a signal indicating that the portion of the vehicle has collided with an object, an indication that a safety or restraint device (such as an air bag, for example) is to deploy.
In the case of vehicle crash sensors, many types of sensors may be used for different impact types and similar scenarios. For example, acceleration sensors may be used to detect sudden changes in the acceleration of the vehicle, pressure sensors may be used to detect changes in pressure or shock waves due to an impact, gravity sensors may be used to detect changes in the vehicle's attitude with respect to gravity (e.g., pitch, roll, etc.). Further, acoustic sensors may be used to detect the sounds of a collision with the vehicle.
When using any of the above sensors or others in a vehicle crash-detection application, or the like, the design of the system generally includes the response time of the sensor(s) within the system. For example, the use of various types of sensors may contribute to different latencies related to the occurrence of the event (i.e., collision, etc.) and the resulting deployment of the restraint device. Additionally, different installation techniques used on multiple like sensors may also contribute to the latencies of responses.